Kidney Cancer Everyone should know about it
The Kidney cancer also called renal cancer. It’s a disease in which kidney cells become malignant and grow out of control, forming a tumor. Almost all kidney cancers first appear in the lining of tiny tubules in the kidney. This type of kidney cancer is called renal cell carcinoma.
What is Kidney Cancer?
The Kidney cancer also called renal cancer. It’s a disease in which kidney cells become malignant and grow out of control, forming a tumor. Almost all kidney cancers first appear in the lining of tiny tubules in the kidney. This type of kidney cancer is called renal cell carcinoma.
Signs and symptoms. The most common signs and symptoms of this cancer are a mass in the abdomen or blood in the urine. Other symptoms may include tiredness, loss of appetite, weight loss, a high temperature and heavy sweating, and persistent pain in the abdomen. However, many of these symptoms can be caused by other conditions, and there may also be no signs or symptoms in a person with kidney cancer, especially in the early stages of the disease.
Diagnosis A diagnostic test for kidney cancer includes taking a thorough medical history and making a complete ph ysical test in which the doctor will probe the abdomen for lu mps. Blood tests will be ordered to check for changes in blood chemistry caused by substances r eleased by the tumor. Laboratory tests may show ab normal levels of iron in the blood. Either a low red blood cell count or a high red blood cell count may accompany kidney cancer. Occasionally, patients will have high calcium levels. If the doctor suspects kidney cancer, an intravenous pyelogram (IVP) may be ordered. An IVP is an xray test in which a dye is injected into a vein in the arm. The dye travels throu gh the body, and when it is concentrated in the urine to be discharged, it outlines the kidneys, ureters, and the urinary bladder. On an Xray image, the dye will reveal any abnormalities in the urinary tract. The IVP may miss small kidney cancers.
Renal ultrasound is a diagnostic test in which sound waves are used to form an image of the kidneys. Ultr asound is a painless and noninvasive procedure that can be used to detect even very small kidney tumors. Imaging tests such as computed tomography scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to evaluate the kidneys and the surrounding organs. These tests are used to check whether the tumor has spread outsid e the kidney to other organs in the abdomen. If the patient complain s of bone pain, a special xray called a bone scan may be ordered to rule out spread to the bones. A chest xray may be taken to rule out spread to the lungs. A kidney biopsy is used to positively confirm the diagnosis of kidney cancer. During this procedure, a small piece of tissue is removed from the tumor and examined und er a microscope. The biopsy will give information ab out the type of tumor, the cells that are involved, and the aggressiv eness of the tumor.
Types of Kidney Cancer In addition to renal cell carcinoma and renal pelvis carcinoma, other, less common types of kidney cancer include: 1. Squamish cell carcinoma:- Squamous cell carcinomas, also known as epidermoid carcinoma are a number of different types of cancer that result from Squamish cell. These cells from the surface of the skin lining of hollow organs in the body and line the respiratory and digestive tracts. 2. Juxtaglomerular cell tumor:- Juxtaglomerular cell tumor (JCT, JGCT, also reninoma) is an extremely rare kidney tumor of the juxtaglomerular cells, with less than 100 cases reported in the literature. This tumor typically secretes renin, hence the former name of reninoma. 3. Angiomyolipoma:-Angiomyolipomas are the most common benign tumor of the kidney. Although regarded as benign, angiomyolipomas may grow such that kidney function is impaired or the blood vessels may dilate and burst, be leading to bleeding.
4. Collecting duct carcinoma:-Duct carcinoma is a type of kidney cancer that originates in the papillary duct of the kidney. 5. :-Clear-cell sarcoma of the kidney:-cell sarcoma of the kidney (CCSK) is a malignant renal tumor of childhood with a propensity to metastasize to bone and other organs. This tumor may also recur many years after its initial diagnosis. ‌ CCSK is unrelated to the clear cell sarcoma of the soft tissue, also known as malignant melanoma of soft parts 6. Mesoblastic nephroma:-Mesoblastic nephroma is the most common renal tumor identified in the neonatal period and the most frequent benign renal tumor in childhood. It represents 3-10% of all pediatric renal tumors. 7. Wilms tumor:- Wilms tumor (also called Wilms’ tumor or nephroblastoma) is a type of cancer that starts in the kidneys. It is the most common type of kidney cancer in children. It is named after Max Wilms, a German doctor who wrote one of the first medical articles about the disease in 1899.
Stages Of Kidney Cancer There are four stages:-
Stage I: The tumor is 7 cm or smaller and is only located in the kidney. It has not spread to the lymph nodes or distant organs (T1, N0, M0). Stage II: The tumor is larger than 7 cm and is only located in the kidney. It has not spread to the lymph nodes or distant organs (T2, N0, M0). Stage III: Either of these conditions: 
A tumor of any size is located only in the kidney. It has spread to the regional lymph nodes but not to other parts of the body (T1 or T2, N1, M0).
The tumor has grown into major veins or perinephric tissue and may or may not have spread to regional lymph nodes. It has not spread to other parts of the body (T3, any N, M0). Stage IV: Either of these conditions:
The tumor has spread to areas beyond Gerota’s fascia and extends into the adrenal gland on the same side of the body as the tumor, possibly to lymph nodes, but not to other parts of the body (T4, any N, M0). The tumor has spread to any other organ, such as the lungs, bones, or the brain (any T, any N, M1). Recurrent: Recurrent cancer is cancer that has come back after treatment. It may be found in the kidney area or in another part of the body. If cancer does return, there will be another round of tests to learn about the extent of the recurrence. These tests and scans are often similar to those done at the time of the original diagnosis.
Treatment
Each person’s treatment is different and depends on several factors. The location, size, and extent of the tumor have to be considered in addition to the patient’s age, gener al health, and medical history. In addition, much has changed in the treatment and management of kidney cancer since t he 1980s, including new surgical techniques, new an ticancer drugs, and the development of effective treatments for advanced disease. The primary treatment for kidney cancer that has not spread to other parts of the body, which is a Stage I , II, or III tumor, is surgical removal of the diseased kidney. B
because most cancers affect only one kidney, the pa tient can function well with the remaining one. Two types of s urgical procedure are used. Radical nephrectomy re moves the entire kidney and the surrounding tissue. Sometimes, the l ymph nodes surrounding the kidney are also remove d. Partial nephrectomy removes only part of the kidney along with the tumor. This procedure is used either when t he tumor is very small or when it is not practical to remove the entire kidney. It is not practical to remove a kidney when th e patient has only one kidney or when both kidneys have tumors. There is a small (5%) chance of missing. Nephrectomy can also be useful for Stage IV cancer s, but alternative surgical procedures such as transa rterial angio infarction may be used. The rapid development and widespread use of lapar oscopic techniques have made it possible for surgeo ns to remove small tumors while sparing the rest of the kidney. Mo st tumors removed by laparoscopy are 4 cm (1.6 in) i n size or smaller. Laparoscopy also allows the surgeon to rem
ove small tumors with cryoablation (destroying the tu mor by freezing it) rather than cutting.
Radiation therapy, which consists of exposing the cancer cells to high-energy gamma rays from an external source, generally destroys cancer cells with minimal damage to the normal tissue. Side effects are nausea, fatigu e, and stomach upsets. These symptoms disappear when the treatm ent is over. In kidney cancer, radiation therapy has b een shown to alleviate pain and bleeding, especially when the can cer is inoperable. However, it has not proven to be o f much use in destroying the kidney cancer cells. Therefore radiati on therapy is not used very often as a treatment for cancer or as a routine adjuvant to nephrectomy. Radiotherapy, how ever, is used to manage metastatic kidney cancer. Treatment of kidney cancer with anticancer drugs ha s not produced good results. However, new drug sends new combinations of drugs to
continue to be tested in clinical trials. One new drug, semaxanib is reported to have good results in treating patients with kidney ca ncer. As of 2004, however, semaxanib is still underg oing clinical trials in the United States.
Prevention The exact cause of kidney cancer is not known, so it is not possible to prevent all cases. However, becau se a strong association between kidney cancer and tobacco has been shown, avoiding tobacco is the best way to lo wer one’s risk of developing this cancer. Using care when working wit h cancercausing agents such as asbestos and cadmium and eating a well-balanced diet may also help prevent kidney cancer.